Job Planning & Work Permits

Safety Does Not Just Happen – Plan For It

Planning for a job properly prevents mistakes and injuries. Safety on the job is not something that just happens; it should be an integral part of the planning process. Job briefings are a great way to include and encourage all crew members in the safety planning process. Job briefings can be held at the start of work shifts, as work tasks or hazards change, and as additional personnel arrive.

Job Breifing and Planning Help You To:

* ANNEX I70E JobBriefing
* ANNEX J70E Work Permit

Work Permits are Safety Tools

An important part of planning for safety is using work permits. Work permits are used when live parts cannot be deenergized. Energized work should only be performed when deenergizing creates additional hazards or is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Additionally, work permits are not necessary when you are testing, troubleshooting or voltage measuring – provided of course that you follow safe work practices and use the appropriate PPE.

When work must be done energized, work permits help everyone involved to think through the process and to make safety a priority. Work permits include information such as why and how the work will be conducted, detailed information about the shock and flash hazards involved, safe work practices and personal protective equipment (PPE) to be used, and who authorized the energized work.

5 ways an energized electrical work permit can help you

The permit requires that you to define your work tasks and assess the hazards associated with the work involved.
It causes you to provide justification for the work to be done energized. Why aren’t you working de-energized as required by OSHA?
After a hazard assessment, the permit aids in selecting the PPE necessary to protect you from shock and arc flash hazards.
The permit requires that boundaries be defined to keep unqualified workers out of harms way and that electrical workers be properly qualified for the specific energized work tasks.
The most important reason for using the permit is for the approval to perform the work energized. Requiring a signature is a powerful way to reinforce the primary requirement to work de-energized.

If it has to be worked energized, using a work permit will help you prepare to face the work hazards ahead with a level of professionalism, productivity and safety.